Not content to decide several years worth of American Idol winners, Season 7 American Idol finalist and Broken Bow recording artist Kristy Lee Cook released her new single to country radio yesterday, the same day as the #RoyalBaby was born. I think we all know that is not a coincidence. Anybody wondering what the name of the newborn HRH Prince will be should likely to be looking at Kristy for clues. Perhaps in the single title?

Kristy’s new single follows “Airborne Ranger Infantry,” which peaked at #50 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, and is actually a duet with her labelmate Randy Houser. For those of you who don’t already know Randy Houser, he’s a rising country star who looks poised to score back-to-back #1 hits now that his current single “Runnin’ Outta Moonlight” is no more than 2 weeks away from hitting the top spot (he previously hit #1 at Billboard with “How Country Feels” in January).

The duet, “Wherever Love Goes,” actually already appears (audio at the link) on Randy Houser’s album How Country Feels with Kristy guesting, and is cowritten by Nashville hitmaker Neil Thrasher with two of the three songwriters who penned the Jason Aldean/Kelly Clarkson smash crossover duet “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” Paul Jenkins and Jason Sellers. But Kristy tells The Hollywood Reporter that she rerecorded the song to make it her single:

“We made it more ‘my song’ so we re-recorded the verses and switched them around. Randy is such an amazing singer — he can sing circles around most men in Nashville! He’s a great guy and has such a great family. I’m so thankful to be able to have this song as my single.”

Kristy also talks about how much her label president Benny Brown believes in this song, which is why it is getting a single release over other original songs that Kristy performed during her fall 2012 radio tour.

We’ve got an audio stream of the new version of “Wherever Love Goes” for you right here:

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Kristy has faced the same huge hurdles most females trying to get established at country radio have faced, so maybe it isn’t a bad strategy by her record label to link her airplay to a guy whom radio is willing to play. Kristy does seem to have solid support from her label Broken Bow: her album’s been in development since she was signed back to a record and publishing deal in October 2010, and her album is set to be executive produced by Broken Bow’s biggest name, country superstar Jason Aldean (who guests on a song called “Dirt Cheap”).

Do you think “Wherever Love Goes” could turn into a hit on country radio?

Also known as Windmills, I cover country music news and live televised country events, in addition to recapping ABC's 'Nashville.' Additionally, I occasionally do long-form chart analysis that has been cited by Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The Guardian, and more.

I really like this. Kristy Lee sounds great. Her voice has a lovely tone. I wish them both a lot of luck with this song.

Nostradamos

I too, really like this song. Very country.

Always been a KLC fan…love her tone. Randy sounds so much like Ronnie Dunn, it’s scary.

jennyl2

I’m not a huge country fan but I like this song. KLC sounds great. I may buy this.

Wfish88

I always liked KLC tone & look. Didn’t always get the hate she got. She has somthing the most recent country IDOLS do t.

Happyhexer

I really, really like this. Enough to buy it. The song puts Kristy’s voice front and center. It’s distinctive and sounds authentic (whether it is or not). Randy Houser always sounds good to me, and I gotta admit, they blend well together. I really hope Kristy can get some traction with this song. If it was an established artist singing it, it would race up the charts. But it still is exceedingly difficult for a female to get played on the radio, never mind on a slow song. So who knows? Might as well flip a coin or roll some dice.